By the next evening she had spent all but a dollar and some few cents of the seven dollars and a quarter that had remained to her. With her bundles under her aching arm, she was returning to her lodging-house to prepare for work, when she stopped at the "Ladies' Entrance" of the corner-saloon and, going into a bare apartment for a drink of whiskey, found, seated at a table, as the only other customer, the girl of whom she had asked her questions on the night before.
The child smiled as pleasantly as her hardened face would permit.
"Hello, kid," she said. "How's tricks?"
"Hello," replied Mary.
"Sit down here," said the girl.
Mary accepted her invitation, and gave the grinning waiter her order.
"Got settled?" asked the girl, when the waiter had come and gone again.
"Yes," replied Mary, "I got a room."
"Where?"
"The fifth door from here."